Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi retires from international cricket

After a long wait and putting an end to speculations, Pakistan all-rounder, Shahid Afridi announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket.

The flamboyant former skipper had already quit Tests and ODIs before but now decided to hang his boots from T20Is too.

An international career, which spanned for almost two decades, Afridi played 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 98 T20Is. While he was not that successful in Test cricket, Afridi was more valuable in limited overs cricket.

In ODIs, he scored 8064 runs at a strike rate of 117 and also scalped 395 wickets. His records in the shortest format of the game are a notch better, with 1405 runs at 151 strike rate and 97 dismissals to his name.

So @SAfridiOfficial retires from international cricket. Exceptional limited overs cricketer who, dare I say it, might have done even more

While much was speculated about whether Afridi will get a farewell match, his decision to retire seems to clear the air on the same. He had captained the national team in the 2016 T20 World Cup, post which he relinquished captaincy from T20Is.

Incidentally, the World T20 match against Australia turned out to be his last in Pakistan colours.

The evergreen young cricketer became an instant sensation in world cricket after he smashed a 37-ball century in his very first ODI innings. He held the record for 18 years until broken by Kiwi Corey Anderson.